Travis Kvapil doesn't like being in a campground with just a towel. Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

10 Questions: Kvapil

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Needing to rebound in only the third week of the Nextel Cup season, Travis Kvapil might be faced with the ideal venue this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Kvapil, the driver of the No. 32 Chevrolet, qualified sixth at LVMS last season, so after he failed to qualify two weeks ago at California Speedway, he again is faced with having to make the field on time for Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.

But before things got too hectic this season, Kvapil sat down during NASCAR's Media Day at Daytona International Speedway to answer 10 questions not necessarily related to his racing career.

Travis Kvapil is in his first season driving the Tide ride. Credit: Autostock

Travis Kvapil Cup Series stats Year Starts Wins T5 T10 2004 3 0 0 0 2005 36 0 0 2 2006 1 0 0 0 Totals 40 0 0 2 Busch Series stats Year Starts Wins T5 T10 2001 1 0 0 0 2002 1 0 0 0 Totals 2 0 0 0 Truck Series stats Year Starts Wins T5 T10 2001 24 1 11 18 2002 22 1 10 14 2003* 25 1 13 22 2004 25 2 6 10 Totals 96 5 40 64 * Denotes championship Leilani ReportsLeilani reports on the fun being had this week in Las Vegas Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

1. What's at the bottom of your "honey do" list?

Travis Kvapil: Aaw, boy. My wife's a stay-at-home mom, which I truly appreciate that we can do that -- but we had to hire a house cleaner, so she doesn't have to vacuum or clean up around the house. So I think she's pretty easy on that.

But there have been several things that need to be done around the house that have been neglected -- simple things like changing light bulbs.

But we just redecorated my son's bedroom from the crib to the little boy bed and I've got to put blinds up. I hate putting blinds up, so that's on the bottom of my list right now.

Q: Does he have a racecar bed in there, or is it something else?

Kvapil: He's got a racecar bed and a new dresser that looks like a little toolbox, so he's on the deal. But I've got a new clock from my mom that's still sitting in the box, so there are actually several things around the house that I need to do.

But I like just hanging out with the kids when I've got the time and not running the tools.

Q: I guess you ought to think about decaling that bed up to look like a 32 Tide ride next, no?

Kvapil: Yeah, we definitely had to get some stickers in to get that baby lettered up. It'll look good.

2. What's the most embarrassing moment you'll own up to -- either in or out of racing?

Kvapil: There's really nothing bad. But I remember short-track racing in LaCrosse, Wis. We had a big end-of-the-year race called Oktoberfest, where we all camped out for a week and it was a big four- or five-day event.

We would use community showers, so it was always a big joke that when someone was in the shower, you'd take a trash can and get rid of their towel or all of their clothes. And sure enough, what goes around comes around, because it happened to me. And you're out there with hundreds of campers and they've got your clothes and you've got nothing.

But I was fortunate and I had enough foresight that I actually had a towel with me in the shower. But to come out of that shower and just knowing that people are out there waiting to take pictures and have the video cameras rolling -- that was pretty embarrassing.

3. If you could, who would you trade places with for a day and why?

Kvapil: That's a tough one, boy. They always say not to judge somebody until you walk a mile in their shoes, so I don't know.

I would like to be, and I don't know if I could name them, but I think it would be cool to be a famous Hollywood actor.

Q: What kind of role would you like to play -- an action hero?

Kvapil: Definitely, like an action hero.

Q: Or a great lover?

Kvapil: No, not that. I was always into car chases and blowing up things and things with that sort of script. Like a Nicolas Cage, or somebody like that -- I think that would be cool.

4. Since we're on a fantasy roll here, if you could go back in time, what period in history would you like to experience?

Kvapil: Man, I don't know if I'd like to live in it, but I'm amazed when I hear about or read about the depression in the 1930s.

When you live with all the luxuries we have today, and you don't even think twice about having food to eat or where it comes from -- or being able to feed and clothe your children. You take for granted things like that. But when you hear about having to be in line just to get a loaf of bread and things like that -- it's probably not something I'd want to live through, because I almost can't imagine the United States of America going through that type of period.

So I think I'd like to go back and actually live through that -- not only for that reason but because that was when industry was really coming on strong. We were starting to build cars and manufacturing and things like that were getting started, and I think I would have liked to be a part of that.

5. What athlete outside of racing do you most admire?

Kvapil: Probably Brett Favre, the Green Bay Packers' quarterback. Being from Wisconsin and growing up there, I was definitely a Packers fan -- and obviously a huge Brett Favre fan.

To see his strength and his endurance -- I forget how many seasons in a row in which he didn't miss a game, whether it was playing hurt or playing through adversity when his father died and with his wife being sick.

There have been all these type things he's dealt with, and to still be that strong-minded, to go out there and lead your team to victory, is really inspirational.

6. What are your best memories of your children, Kelsey and Carson?

Kvapil: The best memory and the one that sticks out the most is their actual birth. The first birth, of my daughter Kelsey, was pretty amazing. It actually brings you to tears, to actually see how that all plays out -- the evolution of life, really, is pretty amazing.

Every day though, really, is so much fun. I've got a 2-year-old right now and every day is something new with him. He's learning new words and to do new things. Whether it's the day he learned to climb the steps or when he learned to eat with a spoon -- it's always something new and it's always a lot of fun.

7. What have you learned about yourself in the last year?

Kvapil: Just to stay focused and to have confidence in yourself.

I've never really had that problem because in every form of racing I've ever done I've won races and won championships. Last year was a real struggle for me, in my first year in Cup. There were several weeks that we'd go home and I'd be wondering, 'Do I belong here?' And, 'Am I doing the right thing and do I need to take a step back.'

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I learned just to have confidence in yourself and know that you've made it to this level, and now you just have to go out there and do it.

8: What is your favorite outdoor activity?

Kvapil: Hmmm? This is really lame, but being from Wisconsin, I've never really been into hunting or fishing or anything like that, but I actually like going outside and planting things and doing landscaping.

I remember growing up and thinking, how lame is that?

Q: You ever get to swap any gardening tips with Jimmy Spencer, because he's big into that?

Kvapil: No, I haven't. But you know, when you buy your house, you're proud of it -- at least, I'm proud of my house and of the way it looks -- and you just get outside and nobody's bothering you and the phone don't ring.

You can just concentrate on something else. I know it sounds pretty lame, but I think I enjoy it just for the peace and quiet -- of just being out there and working at a task other than racing.

9. What was your first job, and what was your most vivid memory of it?

Kvapil: I guess my first job was working for my dad. He joined a body shop and a small service department in Wisconsin.

Man, from the time I can first remember, when I was 8 or 9 years old, every Saturday I'd go in and empty garbage cans around the body shop and things like that.

Obviously, as I got older, it became a full-time job, but I can remember being 7, 8, 9, 10 years old, I guess, and the garbage cans were steel, 55-gallon drums and they were loaded up with masking paper and whatever other supplies had been used at the body shop.

I'd always have to drag 'em out to the back and dump them into the dumpster, and I remember I was so little, and it was such a struggle to lift this 55-gallon drum up and to get it into the dumpster.

But that sticks out in my mind, just being a little kid and taking the trash out was such a task for me.

10. What is your No. 1 guilty pleasure?

Kvapil: Oh man. I guess it would be that I love cheesecake.

Q: It's that Wisconsin thing going on, right?

Kvapil: Yeah, I guess even your sweets have to have a cheese pitch to them.

I've never really been a sweets or a chocolaty kind of guy, but I just cannot resist cheesecake. That's my favorite, by far.